July 27, 2014

7 comments:

  1. Every time I see Louise now, I think of that portion of the letter you posted last year where she described Paulette as a "bitch in a ditch". I have already, of course, set the DVR for this film, however.

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    1. I think you'll enjoy it. I saw it once two or three years ago. I wish I had a DVR so I could record it and watch it again.

      Louise became very bitter in her later years. She seemed to dislike everyone in Hollywood.

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  2. I saw this movie years ago - there was a video rental place out here that I didn't know about and someone at work told me "this place is for you, it's got all these old movies". So I traipsed out to the place and nearly had a heart attack upon walking in and seeing that he had movies from 1910-1970 only. All VHS then, and so many were transferred from 16 and 35 mm reels. Get this…I started at the A's in the silent movie section and went all the way to the Z's!! Nirvana!! All those movies I had only read about were suddenly in front of me and many I had never heard of. I went from Affairs of Anatol to Amarilly of Clotheslines Alley to Big Parade to The Crowd (how I discovered this film!) to Metropolis to Male and Female to Seventh Heaven to What Price Glory to Wings!! I cried when the owner closed up shop and moved to Sacramento. But, I'd gone through his whole stock by then!

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    1. For some reason this comment didn't show up in my emails so I am just now posting it. I apologize!

      How wonderful that you had a rental place nearby with all of those wonderful silent films. Most of them didn't carry movies from that era. Even so, I miss the days of perusing old video rental stores, turning over the boxes and talking to people who were knowledgeable about movies.

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    2. It was an amazing, one of a kind rental place. A LOT were bootleg and not the best quality, but I didn't care - I was able to finally SEE instead of read! I found Chaplin's Mutuals there, after being so ticked at Blockbuster video (which was a JOKE when it came to their "classic movie" section) and The WareHouse, which only had Modern Times and The Gold Rush to represent Chaplin!

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  3. I think Paulette and Louise were at their very core extreme opposites.
    Paulette knew her value and asserted it. You could feel her get stern and she knew how to negotiate.
    I think Louise was always the 'little girl lost' who was dependent upon the people who had power to project value upon her....at their arbitrary discretion. Louise was outclassed but she strangely enjoyed playing the role.

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    1. I agree with this assessment - Paulette definitely knew her value. I don't know too much about Louise, but it did seem from her book and her comments in movie magazines of the day that she was dependent on others for her level of happiness.

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